London: An orbiting NASA space telescope has captured the footage of a planet-sized object flying close to the sun, and extending a "refuelling tube" into the sun`s surface.
The black orb later flies off into space, the Daily Mail reported.
The video captured by NASA`s Solar Dynamics Observatory and put on YouTube has inspired a wave of speculation.
A YouTube user has challenged experts to explain the strange object.
However, the US space agency had an ordinary explanation.
It said it was not a visitor from another solar system, or a planet being born out of the surface of the sun.
It was a solar "filament" -- a feature extending out from the sun which forms over the course of a day, and can extend thousands of miles into space.
NASA says: "A solar prominence (also known as a filament) is a large, bright feature extending outward from the sun`s surface. Prominences are anchored to the sun`s surface and extend outwards into the sun`s hot outer atmosphere, called the corona.
"Scientists are still researching how and why prominences are formed. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma."
IANS